Steel World: Undying Mercenaries, Book 1

In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy.

Battle Cruiser: Lost Colonies, Book 1

One starship will either save Earth or destroy her. A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth's wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, Humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the solar system. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet.

The Lost Starship

Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them.

Koban: Conflict and Empire

The Galactic Federation is confronted by the vast and implacable Thandol Empire, which has coveted the former Krall region of space for eons, a region of space now occupied and claimed by the upstart Kobani. Outnumbered, they face an opponent who possesses new and deadly weapons. An enemy that had thousands of years to develop the means to take on the Krall Empire, and now present the supermen with a weapon that turns their greatest genetic asset into their greatest weakness.

Swarm: Star Force, Book 1

Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there.

Warship: Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 1

In the 25th century, humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy?

A Learning Experience, Book 1

When a bunch of interstellar scavengers approach Earth intending to abduct a few dozen humans and sell them into slavery in the darkest, they make the mistake of picking on Steve Stuart and his friends, ex-military veterans all. Unprepared for humans who can actually fight, unaware of the true capabilities of their stolen starships, the scavengers rapidly lose control of the ship - and their lives.

Starship Eternal: War Eternal, Book 1

Captain Mitchell "Ares" Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty whose Shot Heard 'Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He's handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he's as efficient at charming the media and bedding beautiful celebrities as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.

The Ember War: Publisher's Pack, Books 1-2

The Ember War, book 1: The Earth is doomed. Humanity has a chance. In the near future, an alien probe arrives on Earth with a pivotal mission: to determine if humanity has what it takes to survive the impending invasion by a merciless armada. The probe discovers Marc Ibarra, a young inventor who holds the key to a daring gambit that could save a fraction of Earth's population. Humanity's only chance lies with Ibarra's ability to keep a terrible secret and engineer the planet down the narrow path to survival.

The Empire's Corps

The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting...

Aurora: CV-01: Frontiers Saga, Book 1

world recovering from a devastating plague. A brutal enemy threatening invasion. A young man seeking to escape the shadow of his father. A ship manned by a crew of fresh academy graduates. A top-secret experimental propulsion system. A questionable alliance with a mysterious green-eyed woman. What destiny has in store for the crew of the UES Aurora is far greater than any of them could ever imagine. And this is only the beginning....

The Silver Ships: The Silver Ships, Book 1

An explorer tug captain, Alex Racine detects a damaged alien craft drifting into the system. Recognizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make first contact, Alex pulls off a daring maneuver to latch on to the derelict. Alex discovers the ship was attacked by an unknown craft, the first of its kind ever encountered. The mysterious silver ship's attack was both instant and deadly.

Publisher's Summary

The Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast empire that spanned the Milky Way.

When the Earth is invaded by a rival empire, James McGill's legion must defend the Home World. The top brass has complex plans, but none of that matters much to McGill, who chooses his own unique path. Traveling to star systems no human has ever visited, he searches for a technological edge to beat the enemy before it's too late. Along the way he unleashes new terrors, triggering the biggest battles in human history.

Home World is the sixth book of the Undying Mercenaries Series, a novel of military science fiction by best-selling author B. V. Larson.

As a fan of B V Larson's work and the Undying Mercenaries series in particular, it was with great anticipation that I waited for book 6 of this saga to be released. I had stumbled across this fantastic series late and so was able to consume the first 5 books in rapid succession and having done so found myself at a loose end. In the interim I gorged myself on the entire Star Force saga from the same author in the hope that the prolific Larson would write the next Undying Mercenaries book but found that even after reading all the Star Force books as well as a couple of others Larson has penned that I was still eagerly awaiting the next in this series of stories. So, when I received the notification from Audible telling me of the new release that was entitled Home World and was book 6 in the Undying Mercenaries series, I immediately made my pre-order.

I read the book in less than 4 days not able to put it down I had been so long without my needed fix and in short I can say this next chapter in this saga was indeed worth the wait and gives us everything we have come to expect and love from the James McGill character which the book centres around as we follow his campaigns and adventures that are undertaken in the very unique and rather unorthodox manner we have all come to enjoy so much.

The publishers synopsis outlines the key story well enough so I shall not go into unnecessary details about the plot other than to state how much I enjoyed it. Larson has managed to maintain the consistency and quality we have come to expect from his writing and Home World is no exception. Larson always manages to pace his stories so well and keeps everything moving and interesting and is probably the sci-fi author that could well best have his books converted to the big screen as he never dwells on heavy tech or complex plot narratives. What I have always liked about Larson is just how accessible his science fiction stories are. he write straight forward stories that the reader does not need a physics degree to fathom as do some other authors of what I refer to as "heavy sci-fi" often do or get bogged down in overly philosophical content. Larson writes direct, understandable and entertaining science fiction and in the case of the Undying Mercenaries series also adds a degree of visceral and gritty elements which gives these stories a harsh edge at times. As with any series of books, I would strongly recommend that anyone reading this review that has not read all stories to this point in the saga that they should get the first book of this fantastic series, Steel World and get yourself off to a great start.

I really hope that the Undying Mercenaries saga runs for at least 12 books to at least match the sort of scale of the Star Force saga. My only minor gripe with the Star Force series was the very limited number of worlds explored considering the scope of the linked network. However, this series has a much larger range of worlds from which to make use of and especially now with the newest technological piece of equipment that allows FTL travel among the stars. Also, in this universe the key characters given their revival abilities are effectively immortal and so the author is not limited to either a normal human life span or the confines of stories that keep its characters out of mortal danger and so the very nature of the narrative can be that much more dynamic and dangerous.

Very pleasing to see the same narrator for this series, Mark Boyett, make a return. There's nothing worse than a different narrator being used within the same saga as it completely destroys continuity and so Boyett's return is very much welcome. This narrator has an excellent repertoire of voices and accents and remains very consistent managing to bring back to life all the key characters as we know them. One very minor point is that I seem to believe that the Keavy character was originally of Hispanic origin as I recall when first voiced several books ago but now seems to have an eastern European accent. Of course, I might be wrong on that count.

Overall the book is excellent but I did notice either a narrator issue on one or two words like saying "pursuing the report" rather than I suspect was actually "Perusing the report". More obvious was that in chapter 37 there was a clear continuity error from Larson. The Keavy character is hacked to death but less than five minutes later she wonders back now with just a broken ankle? I listened to this chapter again to verify this and indeed this was the case. Also, I was left scratching my head a little as to how the Claver character was revived so many times without any real explanation. Finally, in chapter 58 our hero, McGill, manages to get himself onto a distant world but the needed recharge to his suit required to get him back was not covered so I was left wondering how he did it. However, as critical an ear for detail as I have, none of the above minor points detracted from this enthralling story.

Finally, we are left with yet another situation of massive proportions looming on the horizon which could well cover the next few books in this series such is the potential scope of the possible threat and so, yet again, we the reader are left wanting more and having to wait an age. I will have to try and find another vast series of stories elsewhere now to tide me over until the next part of the Undying Mercenaries saga is written.

If you've red and enjoyed this series to date then getting Hone World is a "no brainer". Larson continues to excel with these books so I can only recommend this latest instalment whole heartedly.

I love the series, I believe in how the main character is written; Its just I get annoyed with him, maybe it's from a girl point of view because he is always sleeping around! That just shows how well this book is written you feel for the characters. Just sometimes I want to slap him! I love this story I did not know how it would end and I liked that. I was shocked and happy with the ending. It's a good story but you have to start with the first in the series to get the most out of it.

A other great tale of James McGill dicing with death ,(perma death ) using his whits alone to get away with murder and saving the planet in mix , great original scifi story telling and great characters by B V Larson , these really are great books 👍

In “Home world,” James McGill is still as obstinate and stubbornly determined to do what he thinks is right no matter what anyone else has to say; and he now has rank, as in Adjunct. He seems to have become somewhat more mature and diplomatic given his new positon, but deep down he’s still the same old James McGill, and that’s what makes this series fun. As the title suggests, the setting of the six book in the “Undying Mercenaries,” series is earth. It is under attack by the “Squids,” and their superior force seems destined to destroy the planet; but for better or worse earth has James McGill. To try and save mankind James will travel to the core of the Galactics universe to retrieve some high tech weaponry that could turn the tide of the war and piss off a lot of aliens. His usual gang of mercenaries is present and accounted for along with Imperator Turov, and Claver of course. In my opinion this is the best of the series and listening to Mark Boyett play James McGill is the only way to enjoy it.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Tanner Nivert

28/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"well entertained"

"what?! now hold on now!", is pretty much James' motto haha. I lost it when they were first testing out the squid suits; Harris telling James where his balls were and James saying they were somewhere in the other guys' skull was hilarious.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Ian

01/06/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"addicting"

this series is addicting, I recommend reading the other undying mercenaries books as well can't wait for the next one

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Trudy Owens

Orem, UT, US

28/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great story! Action, invasion, and introspection!"

This is a wonderful series! The tech is awesome, the battles are exciting, and the plots are thick and twisting. The universe is interesting and believable. The people are real. Few other authors can juggle all these aspects as well as Larson does here.

I read (listen) a lot. I have been a reader all my life (well since about 4). I read and write academic analyses and criticisms. In my book (yuk yuk), Larson has created a perfect set of characters in this series. They are distinct and well-rounded, with their flaws as well as their strengths. And they fill necessary roles. There are no superfluous characters. Harris, Graves and Carlos are real and vital. Kivi, Natasha, and Della are different from each other. Even the ones we love to hate-- Winslow, Claver, and Turov-- have their important places. These are people we wish we knew, even if we want to perm them sometimes.

And McGill, ah McGill. Irreverent, insubordinate, lying, conniving, loyal, philandering, seat-of-the-pants McGill, ya gotta love him even when you slap his face. He'll quote his mama's rules as he disobeys them, explain the universe with hog farm philosophy, and scheme and plot on a dime to save his friends or all humanity. He is so real, you will miss him when the story ends.

Despite McGill's seeming superficial flirtation and rutting, he does get himself into some practical self-evaluation and realistic, honorable contemplation of the future. Deep down he has a good sense of right and wrong, fairness, and commitment. This saves him from just being a total jerk. This book could be the end of the series, but we sure don't want it to be.

Mark Boyett's performance is superb. He has the voice range an opera singer would envy, so is able to create anything from a gravelly gunnery sergeant to a wisp of a girl. He keeps all his characterizations in order. But the best is his ability to inflect correctly. We know that these performances are not rehearsed as in theater, but he gets it right all the time. McGill is southern po' boy, and Boyett is smack on with his delivery of the accent, the phrasing and pausing, and tone. He delivers lines that will crack you up. For example: "She rolled her eyes. Women do that all the time around me." Or:

McGill: I was wondering what exactly our mission is, when we get aboard [the enemy ship]?Graves: I would think that would be obvious. You're to eliminate the crew and take control of the ship.McGill: Is that all? You don't want us to... repaint it or nuthin?

Best line in the book, perfectly delivered!!! And each book has at least one like it.

Keep 'em coming.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Free

27/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"so good"

What made the experience of listening to Home World the most enjoyable?

really good character development, the consistently from this write is very good.

What did you like best about this story?

good pacing and structure, if you want meat and potatoes science fiction look no further than here. The author's Starforce books are also very god.

What about Mark Boyett’s performance did you like?

Mark Boyett is very professional, there is good variation to the character's voices and keeps the energy up throughout the entire performance. One of my favorite voice actors, i have listened to this entire series as well as Starforce and it has been an A+ performance every time, definitely a 'look for' voice actor.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

we're not the only ones who came home.

Any additional comments?

If you like science fiction this series is a must read. I listen 1.25X recently, but have listened to most of the series at 1.0X speed.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

David Brodie

02/06/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Compelling - for some reason"

I love the narration on this. Absolutely fantastic. The story itself is decent enough scifi, but there are so many small plot holes in every book that I don't know what keeps me coming back. I've read the whole series so obviously it's enjoyable, light fiction.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Scarlet Sharpe

Nasville to Southern California United States

27/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"He's back McGill and the legionaries you live"

A Bv Larson adventure is exhilarating a truly enjoyable time riding shotgun with James McGill what fun we had the pride of humanity the Mercenaries of legion various and others in a desperate stand to fight a full on squid invasion of the home system it's pretty tough but glorious check it out for fun and thrills. Bv Larson delivers another amazing odyssey of theming s what a space opera Thats what a david faustino fan def would say serious sci fi gams s

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Antonio Stevens

Saint Louis, MO

27/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"outdamnstanding"

Hands down, James McGill at his best. A very good story and the same great narration.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Dan

MId-West, United States

25/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Excellent"

What made the experience of listening to Home World the most enjoyable?

One of my favorites of the series. I also like the direction the series seems to be turning.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

R. Evans

Alabama

22/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Give James a short break..Let's kick it up !"

Loved It !! The Story was great and Narration was outstanding. When is #7 being released ??

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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